


What Are We

by embro



Series: Tumblr Prompt Fills [7]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-30 08:54:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3930661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/embro/pseuds/embro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: "Imagine your OTP being voted cutest couple in their high school yearbook, and they’re not even dating (of course that’s how they get together)"</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Are We

**Author's Note:**

> I remade on [Tumblr ](http://harryventura.tumblr.com)

“The fuck?” Louis squawked and slammed his yearbook shut. His mates all burst into laughter, all of them except Harry.

Who was just staring down at a page of his own book, eyes wide and mouth set in a hard line. His expression was unreadable, and Louis had never had that problem before; Harry’s thoughts were usually clearer on his face then Louis’ were in his own head. 

“Who did this?” Harry muttered, eyes finally leaving the paper before him to look around at their group. 

And the lot of them went silent, looking down to avoid Harry’s disapproving glare. 

“There are loads of  _actual_  couples who’d have loved to be voted as the cutest.” Harry told them, and that had Louis more surprised than what he’d seen on page 64, that picture of him with his arm over Harry’s shoulders, Harry’s fingers digging tight into his hip, the both of them grinning toothily with flushed cheeks. It was a nice picture, but it certainly didn’t deserve the caption  _Cutest Couple of the Year. Best Looking Mates_ maybe, but definitely not Cutest Couple. “This joke wouldn’t have been very funny for them. Pez for one is going to kill you all when she sees this.” 

Harry’s scolding even had Louis feeling bad, and he hadn’t even done anything. It felt as if he had though, because Harry was refusing to look at him. 

And he didn’t spare him more than a few short glances for the rest of the day. Which was horrible, because they had two more classes together before the end of school and Harry hadn’t acknowledged him in either.

It was upsetting at first, Louis had never been on Harry’s bad side before, they’d got on like a house on fire ever since the very first day of Nursery, but after two hours of Harry avoiding him his sadness became frustration. 

 _He_ wasn’t the one who’d voted them as cutest couple,  _he_ hadn’t laughed at the idea like the rest of their mates had, and yet here  _he_ was, sitting in his usual seat at the front of the room alone, turning around every few minutes to stare at Harry. Who had the end of his pen resting against the inside of his bottom lip, eyes squinting through his horribly long fringe at the whiteboard, as if it was completely normal. Usually by now they would have been told off by the teacher at least six times for pulling faces at each and being all-round distractions for the rest of the class.

Maybe that’s why they’d been voted cutest couple, because to the rest of their classmates they were one. Always laughing together, touching each other, spending every second possible acknowledging the other’s existence. They were  _Harry_ and _Louis_ to each other, but to everyone else they were  _HarryandLouis;_ inseparable, in-differential, couldn’t have one without the other.

When class finished Louis was the first out of his seat, packing his books up into a pile and holding them as he stood by the door, staring at Harry until his mate was done.

Harry approached him slowly, feet dragging, like the talk he knew they were going to have was worse than staying in the classroom for another bout of Maths. It was Friday, the last bell had just sounded, everyone else was rushing past Louis but there Harry was trudging closer at a snail’s pace.

When Harry was finally near enough, Louis looped their arms together and began to walk. 

He felt Harry seize up beside him, heard him mutter “What are you doing?” 

“We always do this.” Louis answered, voice as chipper as ever.

“Okay.” Harry said, brows pinched together. “But that was before everyone decided we were a couple.”

“Thing is though, they’re not exactly wrong are they?”

Harry stopped walking and wrenched his arm free of Louis’. “What are you talking about?” he snapped, and Louis’ heart dropped to his feet. Harry was the last person he’d ever expected to be rejected by. 

“I - I just -” Louis’ words were caught in his throat, a hard lump blocking his thoughts from spilling free. He could feel his face go red, heat pricking beneath his skin. “Nothing. Don’t worry.” was all he could get out before he began walking again, Harry hot on his trail.

“No, what were you going to say? Why aren’t they wrong?” he asked, skipping a few steps to catch up, voice hopeful. 

“Why were you mad at me?” Louis asked instead.

“I wasn’t mad! Just annoyed.”

“Same thing.” Louis rolled his eyes.

“No they aren’t! And I was  _annoyed_ because you were embarrassed by me.” 

That had Louis stopping short. “No I wasn’t!”

“You were! At lunch time when you saw the book, you were embarrassed that people think we’re a couple!”

“I was not! I was embarrassed because everyone was laughing at me, I was  _shocked_ that people thought we were a couple.”

“Well you’ve got to be the only bloody person in the school that doesn’t think it.” 

“You thought-?”

“No!” Harry got out quickly. “I knew we weren’t. I - umm. I may have hoped otherwise, once, but I -”

“You wanted to be more?” 

Harry’s ears went bright red, and his eyes dropped down to his toes. “For a while, yeah.”

“But not any more?” 

Harry huffed out a breath. “This isn’t exactly how I imagined telling you I liked you more than I should. It’s been forced out of me, I had a plan. Was gonna tell you on the last day of school, with a CD and flowers and everything. Now all I got is my dumb words.” 

“You don’t know any dumb words, Haz.” Louis grinned, lips having stretched wide of their own accord.

“I can’t believe you’re making fun of me.” Harry groaned, slapping a hand over his eyes. 

Louis pried the hand away from his face, bringing it back down to his side. Only he didn’t let go of it, just held on as he said “I’m not. Just don’t know what to say.”

Harry’s eyes remained fixed on their entwined fingers. “As long as you don’t hate me, I don’t mind what you say.” 

“Of course I don’t hate you! I love you, you know that! Maybe even the same way you love me, I don’t know. Might need to kiss you to find out.” he chuckled, and that had Harry looking up, eyes round as saucers.

“Kiss me?”

“Yeah, if you want?”

Harry answered by nodding vigorously, only stopping when Louis’ free hand was on Harry’s jaw.

Louis didn’t know what he was thinking, touching Harry like this in the middle of the school hall, classmates scattered around them. But maybe that was the point, that he wasn’t thinking. Just doing.

He leaned up and pressed his lips to Harry’s, smiling into the softness of them. Harry’s hand wrapped gently around the back of his neck to keep them close, even when Louis broke the kiss.

“So?” Harry asked, breath cool on Louis’ blushing cheeks. 

“’s good.”

“Yeah?” a smile broke free on Harry’s face, and it was impossible for Louis not to grin back. “You wanna come back to mine?”

“Harry!” Louis laughed, pressing a finger into Harry’s dimple. “One small step, okay? Can’t go rushing into these things!”

“No, I meant to just hang out!”

“It’s a Friday, babe, where else would I be if not at yours?” 

“Freaking out at home, maybe? Avoiding me like the plague?” Harry muttered, smile a shade dimmer. 

“Nah.” Louis sighed. “I’m one half of the School’s Cutest Couple, got a reputation to uphold. Won’t be very cute of me to spend Friday night without you.” 

“’spose not.” Harry laughed, and Louis was back on his tiptoes to give his maybe-potentially-new-boyfriend a peck on the cheek. It left his lips pleasantly warm and tingly, and his heart skipped a beat with how Harry was looking at him. It felt right, like how they were meant to be. Like a puzzle piece Louis hadn’t even realised was missing had just fallen into place to make him whole. 


End file.
